Strangers
by soundcheck123
Summary: A little moment between Lily and Snape, as they've grown apart but try to stay friends. Set sometime before Snape's worst memory,


So I hadn't thought about Harry Potter in ages, and then I stumbled upon 'Deathly Hallows' on TV... which obviously led me to re-reading the entire series (well, duh). This is a short drabble, set sometime before Lily, Snape and the Marauders take the OWLs, depicting Snape and Lily's fading friendship as they grow apart.

**XXX**

Snape rubbed his clenched fists against his closed eyes, in a vain attempt to stay awake. He looked down at the book in front of him only to realize he could barely make out the words anymore. Enough was enough; he shut the book closed, not worried about the noise. Snape loved studying in the library during Quidditch games: it was as if he had the whole place to himself, the whole _world_ to himself; plus, he didn't mind avoiding the Potter-worshiping conversations on the way back from the game.

He gathered his things and made his way down to the Slytherin Common Room. He had just turned into a corridor when he noticed a set of red hair on the other end, followed by a loud giggle; the sound grew lower.

'Lily?'

He knew it was her already, there was no point in asking. Lily, who was apparently rushing downstairs, reappeared on the other end of the hallway.

'Sev!' She exclaimed, her voice strangely high pitched, throwing her hands in the air.

He started walking slowly towards her.

'Lil, are you... are you drunk?'

'Nooo!' She shook her head vigorously, but the motion caused her to lose balance and trip over. She looked around before leaning in and pressing a finger to her lips. 'Shhh! Don't tell anyone!' She burst into laugh for no reason.

Snape couldn't help but be amused by her behavior.

'But how...? There's no alcohol in this school!'

'I thought so too! But there is!' She announced as if this was the most amazing piece of information to date. 'Gryffindor won, we won, Sev, and we're celebrating! And there's this stupid card game, Sev, and I'm _so_ bad at it, so bad! Someone brought Firewhisky and if you lost, you had to drink, and I kept losing... I lost so many times we ran out of Firewhisky! I'm going to the kitchens with Mary and Laura to try to get some more...' Her voice trailed off and she looked around. 'Hey, where are they? They were right here a minute ago!'

'I'm afraid they went on without you. Sorry for making you lose your friends,' he said, although he didn't seem sorry at all that he got to spend some alone time with Lily. Drunk Lily, but still Lily.

'Some friends I have, can't even wait for five seconds,' she shrugged, not actually upset about it. 'They're not good friends like you.'

Snape swallowed her, growing anxious, his palms sweating for no logical reason.

'Sev, we never hang out anymore,' she said, half-whining, half-serious. 'I miss my best friend.'

'It's... the OWLs, I... I've been studying a lot, that's all.' He couldn't, _wouldn't_, explain that his new friends made fun of Lily because she was Muggleborn. That they'd tease him if they saw him with her, say he wasn't worthy of being a Death Eater. He couldn't say the looks of disgust her friends shot him whenever he approached her made him feel little, worthless; whereas his new friends acknowledged his magical abilities, saw him as their equal. Snape had never experienced that, and it just felt nice. He was fond of the idea of living in a world where he felt appreciated. Not just by his best friend Lily, but by _everyone_.

Lily missed the look upon his face (one which, had she been paying attention, would've given away immediately that he was flat out lying), focusing on the heavy-looking back hanging on his shoulder and the book in his hand.

'You were studying right now, weren't you? You nerd!' She teased, laughing. Snape couldn't stop himself from joining her; Lily had one of those contagious laughs.

'Well, we lost, didn't we? I made better use of my time! I assure you there's no party going on in the Slytherin Common Room,' he opened his arms as if helpless. 'Don't tell people, but Cassandra Trelawney and I are related.'

'Oh, I see.' She giggled at his stupid joke, and Snape loved that she found that silliness funny. 'So, you big visionary... Why don't you see what's going to be on the OWLs, learn just that and then go enjoy life?' She smirked triumphantly, knowing she'd cornered him.

Snape nodded, unable to think of a comeback.

'Touché, Evans. Touché.' He smiled, and an awkward silence followed. Even more awkward than usual, because it never happened between them. Or at least not until a couple of months ago.

'See? I miss this!' She pointed at him and then back at herself to make it clearer.

'I miss it too, Lil, I do. I'm sorry.'

She took one step closer.

'How have you been? How are things back home with your parents?'

He shrugged, hoping she'd drop it. He should know better by now, because she just stood there, piercing him with those green eyes, slightly out of focus due to the effects of alcohol, but no less intimidating.

'It', erm... I'm okay, I am.' She lifted one eyebrow, not buying it for a second. Snape looked down and shuffled his feet. 'My father left.'

Lily's eyes widened in shock.

'I think it's for the best, honestly,' he went on, 'I mean, Mom's pretty sad now, more than usual, ' he sighed, 'but at least all his bullshit left with him, right?'

Lily nodded curtly; Snape stared at the floor, looking really helpless now. She instinctively took one step closer, eliminating the distance between them and putting her arms around him.

He took a deep breath and hugged her back, letting his guard down. This was nice; he could hardly remember the last time he felt so whole. He could smell the alcohol in her breath, but also her perfume.

'Sev, you know I'm here for you if you need anything, right? You can come to me anytime.'

He nodded, not daring to say anything, afraid his voice might betray him.

She pulled back a little to look into his eyes.

'I mean it.'

'I know. I mean, I always had your back when we we're kids, it's only fair, right?' He joked, and she punched him playfully in the arm, making him laugh again. 'But seriously, Lil, thanks.'

He noticed how very close she was. If he leaned in, however slightly, the tip of his nose would touch the tip of hers. Maybe his oversized nose was to blame, but still. She looked up at him with those eyes.

Snape was not a man of action. He didn't want to scare her, and he certainly didn't want to take advantage of her inebriated condition. But she was so, so close, and she wasn't pulling away. Wait, she wasn't pulling away.

And then he felt the tip of her nose touch his. His whole body froze; his heart beat so fast the only thing he could hear was the blood rushing through his ears. Wait, no, actually, there was some other annoying sound in the back. Were those footsteps?

Lily stepped back, losing her balance yet again due to the suddenness of the motion. Mary and Laura walked in loudly; the sound of glass bottles clanging together was more than enough evidence that they had successfully completed their task, but they started exclaiming loudly anyway.

'Lily! LOOK, we got more! Where the hell were you?' The girls stopped suddenly when they noticed someone else was there.

'Lost, because you left me behind!' She accused jokingly. 'Anyway, let's go, shall we?'

She acted so naturally it made Snape wonder if he had imagined that little moment. The girls walked past him without saying a word, heading to the Gryffindor tower.

'Come on, Lily!' One of them called out.

Lily turned her attention back to Snape.

'Don't forget what I said, okay? And, Sev...' She looked for the right way to phrase it. 'Don't be a stranger.'

She gave him another hug, much shorter this time, and followed the girls.

Before she left the hallway, she turned to look at him one last time.

'Goodnight, nerd.' She winked, smiling.

Snape smiled back at her. Although both of them had smiles(or half smiles) upon their faces, their eyes told a whole different story.

**XXX**

A/N: Just to make it clear, Lily wasn't going to actually kiss Snape. This is told from his POV, and he thought it might happen, but that was more of an accident than anything. Maybe she considered it for a second (as drunk people usually do), but... no. Just no.

I don't know, someone ask J.K. Rowling.

Have I mentioned reviews make me really, really happy?


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